In this collection, I am familiar with most of the writers although not always the story selected by John Updike. I had never heard of Paul Horgan and I guess he mostly wrote historical fiction. Originally published in the YALE REVIEW in 1943, I find the selection of this one somewhat mysterious. It is well-written but terribly sad-maybe it seemed like a story written in wartime should be sad even if it is not about the war.
Four of them are in a car headed toward Weed, New Mexico. Well five if you could the body of a two-year old laid out between her mother and a school teacher, coming along to provide support. The child's death is due to a fire caused by the wind blowing some tumbleweeds, which the chimney then set on fire. The father was to have cleaned up this area and did not. By the time the fire is spotted and run to, the little girl is dead.
There is almost no conversation but various people break down along the way. What could they possible talk about on this long painful drive. There is no subject worth the difficulty of the words. We are told what they are thinking, one and then another. It is a relief when they reach Weed and this journey ends.
6 comments:
Oh, this sounds almost unbearably sad, Patti. I've never read anything by Horgan, and I'm glad you found that this was well written. But to be honest, I think I'd start with something else.
While I certainly know his name, I don't think I've ever read anything by him. If I had to guess the reference, I think of him as being associated with the Book of the Month Club when I was a member in the early '70s, but that could be completely wrong.
I've been reading mostly novellas and long stories this week, most recently in the collection of Slow Horses novellas by Mick Herron, STANDING BY THE WALL. I also read a new Reacher short story by Lee Child, "A Better Place," in the collection REACHER - THE STORIES BEHIND THE STORIES, where he tells where and when he wrote all of his books, and the inspiration, if any.
Horgan was a popular novelist and historian whose work focused mainly on the Southwest. He won the Pulitzer Prize twice and was best-known for his 1960 novel A DISTANT TRUMPET. "The Peach Stone" was the title story in his collection THE PEACH STONE: STORIES FROM FOUR DECADES.
That sounds incredibly sorrowful.
Paul Horgan is new to me also. The story does sound very sad, but your review inspires me to try other stories of his. I will see if I can find a copy of the short story book that Jerry mentions (at an affordable price).
If good writing is enough, this is enough.
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